Steel Magnolias
By: Robert Harling
Directed by: Stacy Stickler
Produced by: Stolen Shakespeare Guild
Audience Rating: PG
Running Time: 150 minutes
Accessible Seating: Available
Hearing Devices: Not Available
Sensory Friendly Showing: Not Available
ASL Showing: Not Available
Sound Level: Comfortable
Audio/Visuals to Prepare For: None
Reviewed by Bradford Reilly
One of the main differences you may notice between the film and the play is that the play keeps us in the salon. Yet, keeping the play in Truvy’s salon makes the play that much more intimate, and we end up watching these women create and thrive a community that feeds them. These women are there for each other, and because they arrive in this same place together, the salon is a space for essential transformation. At Stolen Shakespeare Guild, Robert Harling's beloved Southern comedy-drama finds its heart in the community gathered inside Truvy's Beauty Spot.
The crowning jewel of SSG’s production of Steel Magnolias is that it has a commanding ensemble, at its center–a testament to Stacy Stickler’s seamless direction. Lauren Morgan, Augusta Bailey, Elizabeth Webb, Lynley Glickeler, Laura Martin Jones, and Rose Anne Holman feed off one another, creating the kind of conversational momentum that gets us to listen, to laugh, to cry. Jokes land because the women know one another and have great chemistry. Arguments sting because they care about one another. And the quiet moments work because we understand that these relationships matter.
Morgan's Truvy Jones keeps the salon—and the dialogue—moving with a bright, easy, and humming humor. Bailey's Annelle Dupuy-Desoto undergoes one of the production's clearest transformations, moving from nervous newcomer to a woman with a growing sense of confidence and faith. Her Annelle isn’t in your face about her faith, but it is there, and approached with care.
Webb and Holman play excellent foils to one another as the elders of the group. Webb's Clairee Belcher is polished, independent, and always ready with a jab. She is sly yet sweet. Holman's Ouiser is deliciously crotchety, yet genuine… with just enough vulnerability beneath the prickliness to remind us that even Ouiser needs connection as she fans an old flame.
As Shelby, Glickeler brings a stubborn determination to a young woman adamant to live on her own terms. She brings a layer of charismatic spunkiness that plays off her mother’s steadfastness very well. Jones' M'Lynn is guarded, carefully concealing the depth of a mother's worry for her daughter. That restraint makes the play's final emotional turn particularly powerful. Major props to Jones for a generous performance in that last scene (no spoilers!).
This production makes this two hour hair appointment seem like no time at all, and invites us to step back into 1980’s Louisiana to reflect on the communities we build ourselves. Truvy’s salon becomes a place of transformation—a place where needs for faith, love, motherhood, independence, and even a little light in a difficult world can be spoken aloud. These women arrive carrying different burdens. They leave, again and again, carrying them together.
One last weekend at Stolen Shakespeare Guild in Fort Worth! I recommend you get tickets while supplies last…they are going quick! Steel Magnolias continues through August 23. Tickets are available at https://www.stolenshakespeareguild.org/
Enjoy the show!
Bradford Reilly
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